News: An adoption fund has been set up to get Xander out of his current foster home. Things didn't quite work out with his hippy uncle playing jazz clubs throughout the realm for peanuts and refusing to get a "real job." Donate at: www.KeepXanderOutOfJuvi.org

Look, guys! You are doing exactly what MP wants you to do : speculate on who it was who didn't answer. Clever move from him, albeit a dick move! As Blob said, if it had been sincere, MP wouldn't have mentioned who answered and who didn't.

B.Lee

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'Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.' Sergei Rachmaninov"Life is divided into two sets of people : people who have lost and people who haven't yet." George Michael

Look, guys! You are doing exactly what MP wants you to do : speculate on who it was who didn't answer. Clever move from him, albeit a dick move! As Blob said, if it had been sincere, MP wouldn't have mentioned who answered and who didn't.

B.Lee

Exactly. The classy thing to do....which I'm fully convinced now that MP has forgotten what 'class' is.....would have been just mention 'I sent everyone an e-mail congratulating them on their Grammy Nomination'. ......that's it. No need to say 'but 2 didnt' answer' other than to try and portray himself as some kind of great dude for sending the e-mails and trying to make them look bad.

If 3 guys responded to MP's congrats, no matter which 3 guys, why accuse JP of plagiarism a short time later? Really strange. MP didn't just burn a bridge with JP, he went nuclear. People typically don't do that if they hope to rebuild friendships.

It was the first song we wrote for the album, which is kind of nice, but what I think I'm most proud of is the fact that it's the full version of the song. Not a radio edit, but the full nine minutes, which is just the way we want our music to be heard," Petrucci exclaims.

It was the first song we wrote for the album, which is kind of nice, but what I think I'm most proud of is the fact that it's the full version of the song. Not a radio edit, but the full nine minutes, which is just the way we want our music to be heard," Petrucci exclaims.

Hadn't thought of it like that. Now that is nice.

""It started to almost look like crowds at a Rush concert" the vocalist says. "I'd say that the age range was from about 15 to 65 – and more girls too." He started to joke, "Why couldn't this have happened 25 years earlier, when we were still good looking [laughter]?"

Look, guys! You are doing exactly what MP wants you to do : speculate on who it was who didn't answer. Clever move from him, albeit a dick move! As Blob said, if it had been sincere, MP wouldn't have mentioned who answered and who didn't.

B.Lee

Exactly. The classy thing to do....which I'm fully convinced now that MP has forgotten what 'class' is.....would have been just mention 'I sent everyone an e-mail congratulating them on their Grammy Nomination'. ......that's it. No need to say 'but 2 didnt' answer' other than to try and portray himself as some kind of great dude for sending the e-mails and trying to make them look bad.

I guess you two will be pissed when MP is back in the saddle in less then two years. MP was just answering a question from a fan.

I don't know that any rational person would be "pissed" if and when MP is "back in the saddle." I don't think anyone is rooting for him to fail. That's not the issue at all. The issue is that his response (like many of his communications after leaving DT) was inappropriate.

Logged

"The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie."

Look, guys! You are doing exactly what MP wants you to do : speculate on who it was who didn't answer. Clever move from him, albeit a dick move! As Blob said, if it had been sincere, MP wouldn't have mentioned who answered and who didn't.

B.Lee

Exactly. The classy thing to do....which I'm fully convinced now that MP has forgotten what 'class' is.....would have been just mention 'I sent everyone an e-mail congratulating them on their Grammy Nomination'. ......that's it. No need to say 'but 2 didnt' answer' other than to try and portray himself as some kind of great dude for sending the e-mails and trying to make them look bad.

I guess you two will be pissed when MP is back in the saddle in less then two years. MP was just answering a question from a fan.

At this point I'd be surprised if MP is ever back in the proverbial saddle. It's just not realistic given everything that's happened.

If DT wasn't going to fire Mangini last year when Portnoy asked to be let back in the band, they sure as hell aren't going to do it now or years from now.

On topic: MP seriously needs to learn to pick his battles. I've never been to his forum, but it's notorious for the spontaneous deletion of threads that aren't in line with his views. Of all the posts to not only keep but respond to, he picks this one, while dropping some extraneous and unnecessary information which (either inadvertently or purposely) made DT look bad?

Let's say he did just say "I sent all the members of DT a congratulatory email." The objection is:

I'm sure that if he only said that he congratulated them personally everybody would say "AND DID THEY RESPOND YOU? WHAT HAPPENED?" and stuff like that, so it would very much be the same.

He's not obligated to answer that question. He doesn't have to say anything at all. If he doesn't respond people will just think he's busy, and he is a busy guy. This is just another example of MP not knowing when to keep his mouth shut.

Look, guys! You are doing exactly what MP wants you to do : speculate on who it was who didn't answer. Clever move from him, albeit a dick move! As Blob said, if it had been sincere, MP wouldn't have mentioned who answered and who didn't.

B.Lee

Exactly. The classy thing to do....which I'm fully convinced now that MP has forgotten what 'class' is.....would have been just mention 'I sent everyone an e-mail congratulating them on their Grammy Nomination'. ......that's it. No need to say 'but 2 didnt' answer' other than to try and portray himself as some kind of great dude for sending the e-mails and trying to make them look bad.

I guess you two will be pissed when MP is back in the saddle in less then two years. MP was just answering a question from a fan.

(The Recording Academy asked some of this year's first-time GRAMMY nominees to collect their thoughts and share what it feels like to be nominated for a GRAMMY.)

Wow! Could this really be happening? That was my first thought when I heard the news that Dream Theater had just been nominated for our first GRAMMY. It still makes me smile every time I think about it and the reality of receiving such an honor still hasn't set in. Being in a band who writes 20-minute-long prog-rock epics about topics that aren't exactly radio-friendly, I never would have thought that we'd ever be nominated and the thrill still hasn't worn off.

I was on a plane to California the evening the nominees were announced and as a Recording Academy member and music fan I was bummed that I was missing the telecast, as I always look forward to seeing who receives the year's honors.

I was at baggage claim when I got the call from our manager and all I wanted to do was scream out and dance in celebration. Sharing the news with my wife and kids, bandmates, family, and friends was an incredible moment and one I'll always remember.

The cool thing is that "On The Backs Of Angels" was the first song we wrote for the A Dramatic Turn Of Events album and has only been released in its almost 9-minute original form. Knowing that a song that originated as an acoustic guitar idea written in front of my fireplace at home is now among those songs nominated this year just blows me away.

Based on the nominees in our category, I'd be surprised if we won but I'm still incredibly honored and humbled by the nomination. I'm looking forward to an amazing night on Feb. 12!

— John Petrucci

I was sitting in a Japanese restaurant in San Diego with my very good friend, author Chris Epting, when my cell phone rang. It was John Petrucci. "Jordan, we got a GRAMMY nomination" were the words out of his mouth! Chris looked at me, knowing from my expression that I just heard some really important news. Receiving a GRAMMY nod is not an everyday experience and it kinda blew me away. John was very excited as well. Leading up to this point had already been an amazing whirlwind year for us with our new drummer Mike Mangini, our new album, A Dramatic Turn Of Events, and some very strong shows to support it.

Although we put a lot of care into all the music we create, we knew that this particular album was gonna be scrutinized and a really important step in our career! Receiving this nomination for the song "On The Backs Of Angels" has been so rewarding for us on many levels, as musicians who have all spent countless hours focusing on each of our instruments, as well as band members who have worked together for years, both in the studio and on the road.

Over a long period of time Dream Theater has managed to create a big name for ourselves around the world, but never have crossed over to any kind of real mainstream notoriety. Although I am always grateful to have a life filled with music, as well as the rare ability to be able to earn a living doing it, this GRAMMY nomination just gives me and my band a real-world pride and connection that is deep and meaningful.

As I write this, we are in Finland rehearsing and getting ready to embark on an extensive European tour with a break in the middle to travel back to the United States to attend the GRAMMY Awards show. For musicians who have literally spent their lives practicing, this nomination is a real encouragement for all of us!

Even though I can almost guarantee they won't win (I'm guessing the Foo Fighters will win), I'm really glad Dream Theater is nominated. Unfortunately these sorts of awards are popularity contests so the winners just tend to be the band who is the best known rather than the band that is most deserving.

Being nominated is still a huge honor. Rolling Stone, the R&R HoF and the Grammys HATE prog rock, with a passion. For them to nominate a prog band, for a legitimate song that wasn't aspiring to get mainstream attention, and a NINE MINUTE song at that, isn't just a big honor... it defies logic. There are a lot of bands that seek mainstream success. Dream Theater was seeking artistic fulfillment, and incidentally got something that that a lot of heavy bands were selling out to get.

Even though I can almost guarantee they won't win (I'm guessing the Foo Fighters will win), I'm really glad Dream Theater is nominated. Unfortunately these sorts of awards are popularity contests so the winners just tend to be the band who is the best known rather than the band that is most deserving.

The foos are nominated for lots of other awards. And white limo, which is nominated in the same category as DT, is the worst song on wasting light(imho, but still.) I think the foos are more likely to win one of the other awards (like the one for walk, for instance). I think there is a good chance that DT will win.

JLB has stated that he has a good feeling about it. I only hope that if they don’t get it, they won't be too disappointed.

Sure OTBOA is good enough to win, the question are the Grammys good enough to notice it?

Personally I could not care less for the Grammys but it would be great for DT to get it for all the media attention they could get. There are still a lot of potential fans that are not “lucky” enough to know their music. For that reasons I hope we get to hear the speech John has been preparing lately.

From the ocean comes the notion that the realise lies in rhythm. The rhythm of vision is dancer, and when you dance you´re always on the one. From the looking comes to see, wondrous realise real eyes....

Even though I can almost guarantee they won't win (I'm guessing the Foo Fighters will win), I'm really glad Dream Theater is nominated. Unfortunately these sorts of awards are popularity contests so the winners just tend to be the band who is the best known rather than the band that is most deserving.

The foos are nominated for lots of other awards. And white limo, which is nominated in the same category as DT, is the worst song on wasting light(imho, but still.) I think the foos are more likely to win one of the other awards (like the one for walk, for instance). I think there is a good chance that DT will win.

I'm also going to predict that the Foo Fighters will win. Most of the time (no always, just most) when an artist performs they win. I'm also really hoping I'm wrong.